Considering the current economic and social problems facing the United States of America, what do you believe is the root cause of our problems?

THE PROBLEMS

1. Is the surrender of our national sovereignty to multi-national organizations like NAFTA, WTO, The World Bank, United Nations, the Group of Seven 7, NATO etc a problem?

2. Considering that a typical American husband and wife will now pay more in Social Security Taxes during their life time than they can hope to receive in benefits? Are high taxes to blame for our problems?

Since I am not generating the traffic I had hoped I will grade Blue Bee's responces to "Problems and their Solutions the test", and post the results shortly. If you wish to take the test leave a message and I will delay posting the key. Thank you.

I am going to be out the classroom for a couple days,but will be checking in, so be on your best behavior or I will have to stand you in the corner!! I will most likely answer some of these later,but good questions.

1. The UN was created for a reason. Remember what happened when its predecessor (the League of Nations) failed?2. You can’t print gold. Going back to gold would immediately bankrupt us, a VERY bad idea.3. Yes, I agree on this one.4. Yes, we should not be the world’s free police force.5. No, unfettered greed would destroy society without oversight. Check your labor history again.Kingbee, just give me an A+.

1. The US always gets screwed over in these multinational organizations and trade agreements. I would keep our agreements with our Canadian friends and cancel all the rest.2. Yes, the middle class is paying the tax burden. We’ve already determined that is a problem.3. Yes, this is a biggie.4. No, there has been little to no inflation for a long time. I agree this probably can’t last forever.5. What price controls? Wall Street and Corporate board rooms set prices.6. No7. Yes, a problem, but gridlock is the real problem.8. Don’t know, some local officials run public schools into the ground without oversight.9. Have no idea what you’re talking about here.OK, now can I get my A+?

I can’t give you an A+ Bee but you did earn a solid A. :)A true teachers job is to grade not just score students’ tests using a key. Therefore in the spirit of the humorous Mark Twain and his Letters to the Earth I must score your first answer under “solutions” a public prayer. As Twain and God’s own book keeper Saint Peter declared, “Secret Supplications of the Heart” takes precedence over public prayers or expressions of good intent each and every time. Twain and Saint Peter used this technique to disallow the public prayers and statements of a mine owner and coal merchant named Abner, when his prayers in church were contradicted by his “Secret Supplications of the Heart.” :'(

Abner prayed in church for God to save the poor from exposure and cold but in his “Secret Supplications of the Heart” Abner prayed for more inclement weather in-order to advance the price of coal by 25% while at the same time he prayed for ever more immigrants to help depress the cost of labor by an additional 25%. After much sole searching I therefore rule your answer to question no. 1 under “solutions” null and void because it conflicts with answer number one under “problems” and I can only score your first answers under both “problems” and “solutions” as a yes vote. However like Saint Peter I group all public statements made to impress others together, and in so far as they conflict with “Secret Supplications of the Heart” use these public statements as warm breezes to advance the case for MMGW. So there is a silver lining. :-D

Under “problems” question number 4 you said that inflation is a coming problem so I grade that answer as a yes. Then I am forced to grade you answer to “solutions” number 5 as a yes since greed is greed regardless if it is displayed by the workers or by the mill owners. Who or what makes it possible for greed to surface or to triumph is in-material. This scores you in the upper 90 percentile.

Congratulations Blue Bee, this puts you in almost total agreement with Mr. Robert Welch jr, the founder and long time leader of the John Burch Society. All this time Blue I though you were a left winger!!! Have a good day, Blue Bee, the kingbee. It’s all in fun buddy but we’re not as far apart as some politicians want you to believe.

1. Is the surrender of our national sovereignty to multi-national organizations like NAFTA, WTO, The World Bank, United Nations, the Group of Seven 7, NATO etc a problem?

2. Considering that a typical American husband and wife will now pay more in Social Security Taxes during their life time than they can hope to receive in benefits? Are high taxes to blame for our problems?

5. Are wage and price controls currently a problem or are they likely to become a serous problem.

6. Is the increasing socialist control of every facet of our economy our most pressing problem.

7. Is the centralization of power and control in Washington DC the biggest concern?

8. Is the increasing Federal meddling and control of local education a problem?

9. I the Politically Correct Doctrine of "Peace" at any Price dragging us down?

Score the problems by typing yes or no beside the problem numbers you think are the most serous, in this manner. 1 no, 2 yes, 3yes, 4 no, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

THE SOLUTIONS

What action or actions do you support the USA taking to rectify these problems?

1. Is it getting the US out of the UN and getting the UN out of the US?

2. Will going back on the gold standard solve or help America’s serous economic problems?

3. If we cut the current number of Federal Employees by 50% over time, will that help the American economy?

4. Will withdrawing American troops from every part of the Earth where we are not currently engaged in a war declared and supported by Congress help save America?

5. Will the government withdrawing from ever facet of American life that the government is not expressly required to be involved in help America?

Reply to the solutions in the same manner you replied to the problems section. Think you.

I’ll get back to you in a few days to score your answers and to comment on them, see you late alligator the, Kingbee.

ok...so i didn't quite follow instructions...but i have always been bad at that....

1. yes. to blues answer, the LON failed because they couldn't accomplish their mandate. the UN fails for the same reason. there are no wars they have stopped, no genocide they have halted, and it could be argued that they have made many of these things worse than they would have been without the UN. it is an organization with no moral compass. the best example of this is the people that are put on the human rights council.

2. high spending is to blame for many problems. many more can be blamed on government interference in the markets (housing for instance), and lack of personal responsibility on the part of the citizens. SSI is in trouble for many reasons. people live longer, fewer people pay into it, and the program has been expanded to cover people that it was never intended that it cover.

3. what budget? ;) it is steadily escalating spending without budgeting that is the problem.

4. perhaps. that seems to me to be the most likely outcome of what we are currently doing. the question is what is going to cause the inflation, or what combination of things?

5. wage and price controls don't work. you can look at past programs to see that and you can look at current unemployment among the young to see what things like minimum wage do. when the government interferes in the markets it's always a disaster. in order to control prices, they will feel the need to subsidize. to do that..presumably to control the coming inflation, they will put us further in debt. doing that, they will feel the need to print money or engage in some kind of "easing". this is increase inflationary pressures. either the markets will collapse because the producers will cease to produce, or the government will lose control of things and it will all go to hell...

6. it is a big part of the problem because, again, it interferes with the markets, which tend to be self correcting if left alone. it could be argued that the length and depth of the current ecomomic problems in this country have the same roots as the extended depression of the 30s/40s. government interference and taxation kept the markets from correcting.

7. see 6

8. no. the teachers unions and the states inability to control state workers costs are a big part of it. in my opinion, the teachers union (not individual teacher) is the most evil institution in this country...outside certain government institutions.

9. someone must lead. better us than them. the problem is not war. the problem is fighting PC wars. if you are going to commit our kids and our money to war, blow the place back to the dark ages and then let them figure out how to rebuild. we don't need to be cops. we need to be soldiers.

gold standard: can't do it. it was fine when there were a few powerful nations controlling all markets and trade. won't work now...even if we had enough gold, which we don't. in order to go back to the gold standard all markets would have to massively contract. it would be a disaster for the one country that tried to do it on their own.

federal employees: yes, cut them by at least that much along with all the agencies they work for. they take more out of the system than they ever put back and an ever increasing number of them require and ever increasing number of things for them to do.

if the federal government went back to it constitutional mandated state, we would all be free to succeed or fail on our own. i believe you would see a rebirth of innovation, revenue, and...charity.

Logged

.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....